When depicting the nature of the person all the shades are important, their maximum expressiveness, as they shed light on the inner world of a person. It may be the structure of the face itself, vulgar redness or green face, gloomy or ugly, sullen, obesity, etc. In short, a striking sign in a person’s image is a significant sign.
A person has always been in the center of Valeriy Geghamyan’s interest. Despite his introversion and detachment from social life, the only thing that was painstakingly and meticulously studied by the artist throughout his life – was a Person: from physiology (it is worth mentioning his endless and impeccable anatomical studies) to the character, intelligence and moral principles.
The selected tronies presented in the exposition are the result of Geghamyan’s aesthetic search in the 1970s-1990s. It is no coincidence that the exhibition opens in Odesa. This city, thanks to the diversity of its history, has given the artist an endless variety of human types to study. At times, Geghamyan went to Langeron for observation: at the old bustling Odesa beach, he sought out the original nature for his multi-figure compositions. Later, in the workshop, he analyzed and artfully re-imagined his beach sketches, working out the angles and colors, stubbornly trying to achieve the greatest expressiveness of the image.
Geghamyan left behind a sufficient number of samples of the tronie genre. They are partially stored in the family collection, partly in private collections in Ukraine and abroad, and a certain number of works are in free circulation in the art market. The magnitude of Valeriy Geghamyan’s personality provokes a steady increase of interest to his artistic heritage, increasing the mission of the participants of the art space. Professional study of works, verification of the legality of provenance and quality artistic analytics – is the basis of working with Geghamyan’s heritage, which the teacher and the artist may be proud of.